Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore has expressed his interest in succeeding Greg Chappell as India coach.

On the day Chappell handed in his resignation, two weeks after India’s first-round exit from the Cricket World Cup, Whatmore confirmed his interest in taking the reins from the Australian.

“If the opportunity comes along, surely any person who is a professional coach and prides himself in doing a good job would be interested in coaching the Indian team,” Whatmore said on CNN-IBN news channel

Whatmore, who coached Sri Lanka to ICC Cricket World Cup success in 1996, has worked wonders with the Bangladesh team, which effectively condemned India to an early exit from the ICC CWC with a surprise victory in the group phase of the competition.

Whatmore, 53, said he was willing to take up the challenge of coaching India.

”Firstly, any job is a challenge,” he said.

“I have taken up pretty good challenges in the last 10 years, and this will be another big challenge.

“There is huge passion for the game in India. It is a big religion there, and there is enormous pressure on the team.

“To get the best out of players is a challenge, and to work with the selectors who have the best interest of the game in their heart represent challenge, which is very interesting.

”Perhaps there are more distractions there.

“The sheer weight of interest of the media - be it electronic or print - the huge popularity with the individuals, they all are distraction to a point”

The Board of Control for Cricket in India meets for two days from tomorrow to discuss both the World Cup debacle and the subject of the next coach.